Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1055 of 1503)

      Mitch Albom reacts to Rich Rodriguez’s “Get a life” comments

      November 21, 2008 /

      Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press has two separate thoughts on Rich Rodriguez’s recent comments that Michigan fans should “Get a life.”

      Rich RodriguezBut I am of two minds on Rodriguez’s comments. On one level, he is absolutely correct. The venom that you find on blogs or on talk radio is beyond fandom. It comes from a darker place: Anger, frustration, jealousy spit out in almost murderous tones — all of it masked by a Web name so no one has to admit who he is or where you can find him.

      After all, these are college kids. They don’t get paid; they are, in some cases, one year out of high school. Compared to real issues — the economy is just one — their losing games is minor. Rodriguez is right about that.

      On the other hand, if things were going well, no amount of hype would be too much for Rodriguez. The bigger the hoopla, the higher the ratings, the more precious the tickets — the happier he would be. The same guy who is saying “look at the economy” wasn’t trying to keep football in perspective when he broke his contract with West Virginia and took a huge one in Ann Arbor, including millions the school had to pay to free him from his WVU obligations.

      He came here fluffed with hype, a whiz kid set to turn around a solid but stodgy program and gun the motor to a national championship. Instead, he got a little drunk on his own reviews, took a few shots to the chin and the gut, and is staggering home as night falls. He says “get a life.” The fans say “get a team.” And all most people want is to get this season over with.

      I think this season was good for Rich Rod. He got knocked on his ass for the first time in his career and now he realizes that he can’t plug just any player into his system and make it run like a corvette. And let’s be honest – he got what he deserved for leaving WVU in the lurch.

      But all this will be moot in a couple of years. He still has plenty of recruiting power at Michigan and he’ll eventually land the quarterback he needs to run his spread option offense. The Wolverines will be relevant again, but it won’t be this weekend in Columbus.

      College Football

      Heisman voting done too early?

      November 21, 2008 /

      Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg Times makes a great point that the Heisman Trophy shouldn’t be voted on until after the bowl games have been played.

      Troy SmithEvery year, the voters are forced to decide the winner too darned early.

      For years, this has been the most annoying thing of all about the Heisman. The committee just can’t wait to give it out. The movie is still going on, and already, these guys want to toss Academy Awards at the screen.

      This year, for instance, voters are supposed to have their ballots returned by Dec. 10. At least the voters can wait until after Tebow and his Florida teammates play top-ranked Alabama for the SEC title and until either Bradford or Harrell or Texas’ Colt McCoy play for the Big 12 title.

      On the other hand, the national championship game won’t be played until Jan. 8, almost a month after the deadline. Who knows? Perhaps it will be Tebow vs. Bradford. Maybe Tebow vs. Harrell.
      Just asking here, but shouldn’t that game be factored into the voting?

      In his article, Shelton has a table that illustrates how several winners in the past decade (Ohio State’s Troy Smith, USC’s Reggie Bush, Oklahoma’s Jason White, Nebraska’s Eric Crouch) all won the Heisman and then turned in average to atrocious bowl game performances.

      He brings up a fantastic point – why isn’t the national championship factored in to Heisman voting? It’s supposed to be the most important game in the college football season, yet it doesn’t play a factor in determining who the best player in college football is? It’s not fair for a player to lose the Heisman with one bad performance, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to (and I’m borrowing Shelton’s point) hand out season awards when the season isn’t even over.

      College Football

      Tony Romo takes a homeless man to the movies

      November 21, 2008 /

      Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo is one sweet, sweet man.

      A homeless man who goes by Doc was cashing in change at a Cinemark Theatre in Dallas when a guy walked up and offered to pay his way into the movie. He planned to spend his day passing out fliers and accepted a rain check before realizing that he recognized the generous gentleman.
      “Was that Tony Romo?” Doc asked the worker behind the counter.

      It sure was. Doc, who requested that his real name not be used, hustled across the street to the consignment store that paid him to occasionally pass out fliers and requested the day off. By the time he got back to the theater, Role Model had already started.

      Romo, who confirmed the story but didn’t want to elaborate, waved Doc over to sit by him and his friend. Doc sheepishly mentioned that he hadn’t showered in a few days.

      “Don’t worry about that,” Romo said. “I’m used to locker rooms.”

      And so the $67 million quarterback and a man who doesn’t have $6.70 to his name sat next to each other and shared laughs for 90 minutes or so.

      For Romo – who made news by changing a couple’s tire on a roadside on the way home the night of the season opener – it was just another kind gesture to a random stranger. It meant the world to Doc.

      “For me, it was a blessing,” Doc said. “It came at just the right time. It gave me some encouragement and faith in mankind. I just wanted to say thank you.”

      Hot ass Jessica Simpson got herself a good one. Call me sentimental, but I think that’s a cool story. It sure beats hearing every couple of days about Larry Johnson spitting and slapping (allegedly) women around.

      NFL

      It’s official: Baby Hank takes over Yankees

      November 21, 2008 /

      Hal Steinbrenner has officially taken control of one of the most loved and hated franchises in all of sports: The New York Yankees. Hal will replace his papa bear, George Steinbrenner.

      Whether you liked George or you hated him, The New York Post notes that he was one of a kind:

      George SteinbrennerAnd was a hell of a thing to be George Steinbrenner, too. There were times he was a model of how not to run a sports franchise (or a 7-Eleven franchise, for that matter), and there is an army of ex-employees who’ll tell you he was a model of how not to be a boss, too. And yet, players who spent years raging at him would invariably be welcomed back as coaches and instructors after their playing days were over. There are a thousand tales of quiet kindnesses Steinbrenner administered through the years.

      And perhaps the most staggering thing of all is to know that in the short course of his stewardship, public opinion about him managed to do the impossible: it did a complete 180. This was a man whose banishment from baseball in July 1990 was greeted with a standing ovation and a vulgar chant at Yankee Stadium. And yet less than a decade later, those same fans would serenade him with a chant of “Thank you, George!”

      New York has long been the place where men come to find their destinies, and Steinbrenner found his here. It has long been a city that welcomes men to re-invent themselves, and Steinbrenner did that, too. We will never see another like him, and who ever would have thought, back in the day, that this would be a sad thing?

      So the name of the boss, lower case, changes. Even as everyone knows that the Boss, upper case, will be forever.

      Chances are if you live outside of the Bronx, you probably hate George Steinbrenner and his freewheeling approach. But you have to give the guy one thing – he went after it every year. He wanted to win and it didn’t matter how much money it took to do it. He never broke any rules (MLB should have always had a cap if they wanted to regulate the Yankees’ spending) and he always put the money he earned back into the organization. Not every owner in baseball can say that.

      So again, love him or hate him – “Big Stein” is a legend.

      MLB

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